18 and Life
by TheJoker'sAdmirer
Summary: Wally was a young boy, he had a heart of stone. He came from the edge of town, just barely out of school. Fought like a switchblade So no one could take him down. They say he loved adventure. Wally's the wild one. He married trouble, had a courtship with a gun. AU song-fic to 18 and Life by Skid Row


**You know what? I'm actually not completely sure where this came from...I watched Rock of Ages last night after listening to Skid Row, and somehow, came up with this...so...*scratches head nervously* ...yeah...**

**This is an AU. I DO NOT think that Wally and Dick act like this...or that this is how Wally lives. This is ALL MADE UP! From my sick imagination XD Also, no powers. Wally isn't Kid Flash and Dick isn't Robin!**

**So, yeah, this is a song-fic to 18 and Life by Skid Row. Obviously, I changed the name in the song so it could make sense with the fic. The real name used in the song is 'Ricky'**

**Why do I always write about abusive parents? My first Batman fanfic has one, and so did the first 'book' I wrote...uuuh...unanswered questions...um...let's just read now...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, if I did, well, that wouldn't be good for anyone..I also don't own Skid Row, because I think it's illegal to own people...**

* * *

_Wally was a young boy**  
**He had a heart of stone**  
**Lived 9 to 5 and worked his_

_Fingers to the bone_

Wally West was 18 year old, and had just graduated from high school, and was currently working just to get by. No help from his beat-nick dad. He never helped. All Rudy ever wanted to do was get drunk and beat the shit out of his son. He never cared for his son, not even when Wally's mom was alive. The only person who ever cared for Wally was his aunt and uncle, but they lived all the way in Central City, when he lived in Keystone City.

_Just barely out of school  
Came from the edge of town  
Fought like a switchblade  
So no one could take him down _

Sometimes, Wally liked to just sit on the roof outside his bedroom window of their beat-down two-story house, and just watch cars pass by. On most nights, he would be able to see a police chase, or one of his neighbours getting arrested for drug possession, and even one time, for murder. Yeah, he didn't live in the best part of town, some might even call it the ghettos. But it was home. It didn't always look like this. This was the neighbourhood his mother grew up in, and according to her stories, it was a beautiful place. It was like that for a little bit during Wally's childhood, but then his mother was murdered by his next door neighbour and everyone wanted out. In comes all the drug dealers. Then follows the pimps. Then the crack heads. It's really gone downhill. Just like Wally's life.

"Get out of my damned house! I don't even know why I let you stay! You're 18 fucking years old!" The old whiskey tainted breath of Rudy West shouted at his son for probably the millionth time since he turned 16 years old. He's been trying to get rid of Wally all that time, and now that his son is 18, there are no laws binding him to his son any longer. He's no longer a minor. Some might say that your 18th birthday should be happy; you're finally free from the exaggerated tyranny of your parents. Not for Wally West. Happy fucking birthday, son, here's a punch to the face.

Speaking of that punch, here comes another. Rudy doesn't pull his punches now that Wally's out of school. He doesn't have to hide from teachers anymore, doesn't have to hide from prying eyes.

Another punch. This one aimed to his abdomen. Wally learned years ago not to cry out when his dad hit him. That would usually make him hit harder. He would call him a pussy, a girl, and even for some reason, a slut.

"Leave now, Wallace!" The whiskey breath shouted right in the young ginger's face. Wally's father grabbed his arm roughly and started dragging him to the door.

"Fine! I want to get out of this place! I fucking hate it!" Throwing the door open, his father bid him farewell one last time with a good 'ol slap to the face and quite literally threw him outside.

"Great, the fag is here," And with those pleasant last words, Rudolph West walked back inside his house.

Leaning against the chipped white painted deck was Wally's best friend. The 16 year old had been with Wally through everything, and he was somehow always there when Wally most needed him. Dick Grayson lived in Gotham City, and Wally only saw him a few times a year—when he visited his aunt Iris and Uncle Barry. Barry was friends with Dick's legal guardian, Bruce, that's how they met.

"Dude, how long you been there?" Wally muttered, wiping blood off his chin with his battered sleeve, and walking off the deck without checking to see if Dick was following him.

"Uh, long enough I guess," He muttered with a quiet nervous chuckle, "I kinda wanted to interject at a few points though, bro. Has your dad always been like that?"

"There's a reason why I never introduced you two. He's been that bad since mom died. He was a little milder before then, but not by much I guess...Yeah. You've always wondered why we always hang out at Barry's. There you go," Wiping off some more blood, both boys started heading towards the end of the street.

"Well, why don't we just go walk. I can pay for us to get to Central, and maybe you can live with Barry and Iris. If you can't, I'm sure Bruce will let you stay. We've been getting into fights a lot lately, it would be good to have a distraction," Dick announces after staring after his friend for a few minutes. All he gets in response is silence.

_He had no money, ooh__  
__No good at home__  
__He walked the streets a soldier__  
__And he fought the world alone__  
__And now it's_

What if Wally never came back? He moved in with Barry and Iris, or even Dick and Bruce. What would happen? Would he just get up and live his life normally? Have the life he dreamed about when he was a kid? Marry the right girl? No. That would never happen. Not with Wally's luck. He'd probably just end up like his dad if he ever got married and had kids. And what if he moved in with his aunt and uncle? He'd be a burden to them, they don't want him—the damaged child—to live with them, but they would say yes anyways. And the same would go with Bruce and Dick. No. He had to run.

"I can't do that," Wally said after a ten minute long silence, the longest Dick had seen Wally not talk. "I can't move in with you, or Barry and Iris. I need to find my own way. I'm going to run. I can't do _this_," he said that while gesturing around, "anymore, Dick!"

"Walls, do you even have any money?"

"No," The red head said, deflating a little, then he perked up, " But I can work! I have some money saved up! Dick, come with me! You said so yourself that you and Bruce have been fighting, you told me once that you have thought about running away! Let's do it! Let's run away!"

"Wally, I don't know about that. I mean, yeah, I think every 16 year old has thought about running away at one point, but I can't do that to Bruce and Alfred. They took me in when no one else would." Dick tried to reason with his friend. He was insane, he can't be serious.

"Dick, you grew up in a travelling circus, you must have wanted to feel the free, non-socialite air on your face since you moved in with _Bruce Wayne._ Dick, please, I'm begging you. Come with me!" And there are the puppy dog eyes. The ones the blue eyed boy could never refuse.

"Do you know what you're asking me? You're asking me to leave my whole life behind me. You want me to leave my guardian, my father, to run around with you? Am I being clear?"

"Crystal, dude. Let's do it! I'm 18! I can get us a place, I can get a job. Dude! You're the ward of a kajillionair! You could start us off! Dick, please, do this with me. There's no one else I'd rather do it with."

After a few moments with no speaking, just the two boys standing in the middle of the sidewalk, Dick spoke up, "Fine. I'll do it."

"Oh my God, thank you, Dick! I promise, you won't regret it!" Dick would do anything if he could see that spark of life cross his best friends face. Maybe he would have been happier if Wally had told him the truth. He did regret letting the red head drag him into this.

*Three months later*

_Tequila in his heartbeat  
His veins burned gasoline  
It kept his motor runnin'  
But he never kept it clean_

"Wally, get off your ass! Oh my god, are you drunk again?" Dick yelled, coming into their apartment to the smell of tequila. He said he would find a job, support them. But he never did. Dick was the one who found a job. When Bruce found out that he had run away, he had cut off Dick's credit card, so he no longer had any money. "Wally! Is that what I think it is?" Dick gasped, eyes widening to seemingly impossible widths because, in Wally's arm, was a needle filled with a brown substance.

"Dude, this stuff is great. Even better than the tequila! Aw man, you should try it!" Wally exclaimed when he noticed the ebony standing in the door way, offering him a goofy smile.

"No! Wally, do you know what this shit will do to you? You're crazy. I-I can't deal with this. I'm leaving!" And with that, Dick turned around and stormed out of the run down apartment, leaving the too-high-to-care Wally behind.

*Two months later*

_They say he loved adventure  
Wally's the wild one  
He married trouble  
Had a courtship with a gun _

Dick had decided to come back to his friend two months after he left. He couldn't just leave his life long friend alone when he was like this! Wally was shooting up last time he saw him, that was horrible for Dick to see. So he came back.

"Dude! You're back! I missed you!" Wally yelled from across the apartment, sitting in the same position Dick left him in, except the needle was empty on the table next to him.

"Yeah, dude, of course! Can't leave a bro behind," Dick said nervously, scratching his neck. He had gone back to Bruce to see if he would take him back, only to find out he had adopted another kid. A_dopted _him. He never adopted Dick. I guess you could say the main reason he came back was because he was jealous and couldn't handle it, but he would deny that completely.

"Hey dude, I went back to my dad's place to steal some money and booze, and look what I found!" The red head exclaimed, holding up a—was that what Dick thought it was?

"Wally! Is that a gun!? Wally, why do you have a gun!?" Dick screamed, now realizing that it would have been better to live in jealousy with Bruce and Jason. Wally was insane. But Dick can't leave him, because he was obviously a danger to not only the people around him, but himself.

"Yeah dude! Wanna go shoot off some rounds? It loaded!"

"Wally, no. I won't do that. That's just—that's insane," Dick pleaded. Please, don't let him be serious. Don't let this be real. This has to be a dream. A sick, sick dream where his best friend is on drugs.

"Dude, please!? I wanna try this baby out!"

"Fine, Wally..I...I'll go," Dick finally admitted, much to his disappointment.

_Bang, bang! Shoot 'em up  
the party never ends  
You can't think of dying _

"You gotta try this man, it's great!" Wally yelled across the parking lot to his friend while he was shooting at beer bottles. "This is so much fun!"

"Wally, you're high and drunk. Stop this. Let's just go home," Dick tried to reason, but his friend wouldn't listen.

"No way, dude! You're just jealous! Come over here and shoot with me! I got plenty of rounds!"

Hesitantly, Dick walked over to Wally, making sure to dodge any direction the gun was pointed, and stood next to him. "Wally, will you please give me the gun?"

"Only if you shoot it!"

"Wally, I'm not going to shoot the gun. Hand it over, and we'll go home."

"No! I'm having fun! Are you scared, ya pussy?" Wally taunted, waving the gun in Dick's face. "You're my best friend, Dick! Join in my fun!"

"Wally, right now, the bottle's your best friend. I haven't been since we ran away. You're becoming just like your dad!" He knew it was a low blow as soon as it left his mouth, but it had to be said. Which probably wasn't smart when the other boy had a gun in his hand.

"What was that?" Wally asked in a dangerously low voice. He started advancing on Dick then, instinctively pointing the gun towards him.

"I—I didn't mean it, Wally! I s—swear! I take it b—back! W-walls, put the gun down, please!"

"Well, if you didn't mean it, why are you stuttering? Why do you sound guilty?!"

"Because, Wally I'm—" But he was cut off by laughter before he could continue.

"Dude! You shoulda seen your face! You looked so scared!" Wally yelled while laughing his ass off, backing off putting the gun down. "I know you would never mean something like that!"

Dick let out an audible sigh before saying, "Wally, don't do that to me ever again. You scared the shit outta me."

"Fine by me dude, but this isn't even loaded, I emptied it, see?" And with that he pulled the trigger on his friend

_**BANG!**_

Dick's eyes widened at that instant while Wally's eyes held shock. Dick looked down at his abdomen where he was just shot by his best friend. Blood started seeping through his white tee-shirt, staining the whole front. Looking up from his wound he met Wally's eyes before they rolled back in his head and he fell backwards.

"Dick, dude, get up. You aren't funny," Wally said, chuckling at his friends antics. When Dick didn't get up, he walked over and pushed the body with his toe. "Seriously dude, if you're trying to get me to learn a lesson, it isn't working. How'd you do that whole blood thing? Dick? Dick. Dick?! Oh my god, Dick!?" Crouching down next to the rapidly bleeding boy, he held him close to him. Slowly, Dick's eyes opened just a little bit, but enough for Wally to see the light leave the ever blue eyes of his friend.

"You promised me I wouldn't regret this," And then his friend closed his eyes, and didn't open them again.

_He fired his six-shot to the wind  
That child blew a child away _

That's when Wally finally understood. Dick was dead. He had killed his best friend. Upon realizing this, Wally threw the gun still in his hand to the side, eyes never leaving his friend. "Dick, please wake up! I promise I'll throw that gun away! I'll stop doing drugs! Stop drinking! Get a job! Just, please, please, _please,_ get up, Dick!" Wally yelled at the dead body in front of him, tears rapidly falling down his face in what felt like water falls. Dick can't be dead, this is all an act.

"What happened here?" A deep voice demanded behind Wally, making him jump. While he was sobbing over his friend's body he hadn't heard the sounds of sirens coming down the road into the abandoned basket ball court.

"I killed him. I killed my best friend," Wally whispered. There was no use lying. He had no one left. Dick was dead. Dick was all had. All he _ever _had. And what had he done? He ignored all his pleas for him to get clean. For him to get his life together. But did he? No. He killed his best friend.

*Two months later*

"Wally West, you are sentenced 18 years to life in prison. Case dismissed," The judge declared on the final day of Wally's trial. Wally hung his red head over the table he was seated at at that declaration, chancing a glance behind him to see Bruce Wayne giving him the worst glare he had ever seen with and insane amount of depression seeping through the cracks. A young boy was standing beside him. That boy reminded him too much of Dick, so he had to look away. Two guards came up to him and grabbed his arms to take him away to his new home in prison. On his way out, he saw the devastated tear stained face of his aunt Iris, and the disappointed face of his uncle Barry.

"I wish I could do this all over again," Wally muttered under his breath as the guards took him away.

"Yeah, right kid. Now get in the car."

Wally complied with the ever compassionate guard and ducked into the police car that would bring him to his new home. He hoped it could get better from there.

_Eighteen and life you got it  
Eighteen and life you know  
Your crime is time and it's  
Eighteen and life to go_

* * *

**So, yeah, not really sure where this came from, but it's 2:30 AM here, so I guess I should end it now?**

**HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE FIRST FANFICTION I HAVE FINISHED IN SO FRACKING LONG! HOLY CHEESE!**

**Yeah, so, tell me how you thought it was, reviews will be regarded in a very creepy way while I eat pasta. **

**~The Joker's Admirer.**


End file.
